Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

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Jeff G
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby Jeff G » Sun Apr 08, 2018 2:24 am

brancher147 wrote:
Jeff G wrote:If it doesn’t have a water obstacle I loose interest in the piece

Not arguing this point and I definitely agree. But states like WV have very little water obstacles. I have one place where water is an obstacle, the rest of my public pieces, the obstacle is a mountain, cliffs, or extremely steep rocky terrain.


My comment pertains more to areas around where I hunt.
You are correct, all areas are different. Look for the overlooked and/or nasty.

You have the correct mindset! Obstacle and overlooked are two key words.Good luck!


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ScottSpitzley
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby ScottSpitzley » Sun Apr 08, 2018 1:38 pm

Jeff G wrote:I marked up your map with the spots I would check out. The blue and yellow are where I would look. If I’m speed scouting this is where I’m looking.

Image[/url]


I agree on those spots for sure. So are you not worried about access at all? Notice the 2 roads on each side of the swamp, I live in Michigan and it is no doubt highly pressured. Worth checking other spots on this map? I noticed some swawp areas to the west as well.

It seems as this is fairly hilly terrain, that being said are you still only focused on just the swamps?
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ScottSpitzley
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby ScottSpitzley » Sun Apr 08, 2018 1:41 pm

Thanks for all the replys guys
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby Evanszach7 » Mon Apr 09, 2018 1:29 am

X2. Pin 10 areas you really want to scout (1/100 acres) based on terrain and transitions. Mark stands/pressure in ONX as you find it. Cut a buck track and follow it as long as possible; helps if you pick scouting days right after a really heavy rain. Repeat this process 2-3 times/property. 90% of the time you probably can cross off 80% of a property before stepping on it, but you're not going to find that overlooked spot.

Boogieman1 wrote:On private if I have sole access it's easy for me to cross off 80 to 90%. But on public im hesitant do to a map doesn't show me where pressure is landing. I worry I will miss an overlooked hidey hole by blindly crossing things off. Will say if u are limited on time that's deff your best option. But I have seen good deer cut a trail in a slight low spot through relitively open woods that wouldn't show up on a map enough times to atleast give it a look.
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby Jeff G » Mon Apr 09, 2018 3:33 am

ScottSpitzley wrote:
Jeff G wrote:I marked up your map with the spots I would check out. The blue and yellow are where I would look. If I’m speed scouting this is where I’m looking.

Image[/url]


I agree on those spots for sure. So are you not worried about access at all? Notice the 2 roads on each side of the swamp, I live in Michigan and it is no doubt highly pressured. Worth checking other spots on this map? I noticed some swawp areas to the west as well.

It seems as this is fairly hilly terrain, that being said are you still only focused on just the swamps?


Roads don’t bother me. I’ve seen enough big bucks bed next to them to convince me of that.

My access is totally based on what the wind is doing when I plan to hunt the exact bed.
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justdirtyfun
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Mon Apr 09, 2018 4:46 am

It should be mentioned you are looking for a place a mature big buck will be during daylight. During hunting season, maybe rut or pre/post rut, pressure bedding or pre leaf drop. Oops :D

Let's stick with a place a mature big buck will be during daylight.

I wish we had time to search all the propertys completely every time but it's not feasible. The trap a guy falls into is staying on familiar ground. When you hear I've hunted here my whole life ' they probably know 20% of the property.
It boils down to examining what is truly there and not walking through saying 'this looks good '.
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby JoeRE » Mon Apr 09, 2018 11:32 pm

I cross stuff off by working out from known access points, trails visible from google earth, that sort of thing. Sometimes that is even from private land sides - when I see well used 4 wheeler trails coming up to the back of a piece of public I know there is probably significant hunting pressure on the back side. Big blocks of continuous cover with few terrain features are also lower priority.

Its not just distance because I have noticed hunters will rather walk a full mile down a flat trail than climb a 300 foot hill right beside the parking lot. I trace out all the internal edges and likely bedding points and benches in hill country, and I also trace out all the "obstructions" maybe its water maybe its a 300+ foot deep valley that has to be crossed to get to the other side. The stuff shielded by the obstructions are usually best, I cross off the other stuff.

Lastly and I cannot stress enough I am certain cyberscouting gets at the very most maybe 50% of the info you want. I know we all are limited in how much time we have to put boots on the ground just remember nothing replaces it.
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ScottSpitzley
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby ScottSpitzley » Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:23 am

Jeff G wrote:
ScottSpitzley wrote:
Jeff G wrote:I marked up your map with the spots I would check out. The blue and yellow are where I would look. If I’m speed scouting this is where I’m looking.

Image[/url]


I agree on those spots for sure. So are you not worried about access at all? Notice the 2 roads on each side of the swamp, I live in Michigan and it is no doubt highly pressured. Worth checking other spots on this map? I noticed some swawp areas to the west as well.

It seems as this is fairly hilly terrain, that being said are you still only focused on just the swamps?


Roads don’t bother me. I’ve seen enough big bucks bed next to them to convince me of that.

My access is totally based on what the wind is doing when I plan to hunt the exact bed.


I know exactly what you mean, as they don't bother me either. I have found some great stuff right off the road. I am just trying to get an idea of what people mean when they mark off the map before going in due to easy access, hunting pressure etc. Looks like a lot of hunters have different takes on what they do when scouting an unfamiliar piece. I try to cover as much as possible because I do not want to not find that overlooked spot, just don't have the time to cover it all. The main thing I look for on a piece is marsh and walk the transition, points, islands etc. But I wanted an idea of what the next go-to spots that people would hit looking at it from a map viewpoint. Thanks for all the info everyone.
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ScottSpitzley
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby ScottSpitzley » Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:33 am

JoeRE wrote:I cross stuff off by working out from known access points, trails visible from google earth, that sort of thing. Sometimes that is even from private land sides - when I see well used 4 wheeler trails coming up to the back of a piece of public I know there is probably significant hunting pressure on the back side. Big blocks of continuous cover with few terrain features are also lower priority.

Its not just distance because I have noticed hunters will rather walk a full mile down a flat trail than climb a 300 foot hill right beside the parking lot. I trace out all the internal edges and likely bedding points and benches in hill country, and I also trace out all the "obstructions" maybe its water maybe its a 300+ foot deep valley that has to be crossed to get to the other side. The stuff shielded by the obstructions are usually best, I cross off the other stuff.

Lastly and I cannot stress enough I am certain cyberscouting gets at the very most maybe 50% of the info you want. I know we all are limited in how much time we have to put boots on the ground just remember nothing replaces it.


Some of these overlooked spots are very easy to get to though, so I may be hesitant to cross the known access points off if I know it may hold deer. I found a spot right off the road and parking lot the other week with obvious big buck sign, there is a huge trail that goes right by it. But as far as the spots that are hard to get to, looking at a map standpoint, are definitely in favor of me checking them out. Very good point.
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby <DK> » Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:35 am

JoeRE wrote:I cross stuff off by working out from known access points, trails visible from google earth, that sort of thing. Sometimes that is even from private land sides - when I see well used 4 wheeler trails coming up to the back of a piece of public I know there is probably significant hunting pressure on the back side. Big blocks of continuous cover with few terrain features are also lower priority.

Its not just distance because I have noticed hunters will rather walk a full mile down a flat trail than climb a 300 foot hill right beside the parking lot. I trace out all the internal edges and likely bedding points and benches in hill country, and I also trace out all the "obstructions" maybe its water maybe its a 300+ foot deep valley that has to be crossed to get to the other side. The stuff shielded by the obstructions are usually best, I cross off the other stuff.

Lastly and I cannot stress enough I am certain cyberscouting gets at the very most maybe 50% of the info you want. I know we all are limited in how much time we have to put boots on the ground just remember nothing replaces it.


Great post man
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby Hawthorne » Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:40 am

I tend to shy away from public that has a ton of Small private pieces around it. Say in the 10-20 acre size. Anyone else do this or should I still look? I like seeing the bigger size pieces of private surrounding it
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:45 am

Hawthorne I agree since more property owners means more potential hunters. And each will access at different points adding to the total disturbance.
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby ScottSpitzley » Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:51 am

Hawthorne wrote:I tend to shy away from public that has a ton of Small private pieces around it. Say in the 10-20 acre size. Anyone else do this or should I still look? I like seeing the bigger size pieces of private surrounding it


I guess I never put that into perspective when looking at aerials but a very good point. I will try and start paying attention to that for now on and see if I can find any dramatic changes in sign.
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby Kraftd » Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:00 am

Hawthorne wrote:I tend to shy away from public that has a ton of Small private pieces around it. Say in the 10-20 acre size. Anyone else do this or should I still look? I like seeing the bigger size pieces of private surrounding it


This has been a lesson I'm learning too slow. Several times a season lately I seem to get waylayed by people coming into public off of private that I didn't anticipate.
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Re: Crossing off areas to scout on Public Parcel

Unread postby JoeRE » Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:26 am

Kraftd wrote:
Hawthorne wrote:I tend to shy away from public that has a ton of Small private pieces around it. Say in the 10-20 acre size. Anyone else do this or should I still look? I like seeing the bigger size pieces of private surrounding it


This has been a lesson I'm learning too slow. Several times a season lately I seem to get waylayed by people coming into public off of private that I didn't anticipate.



Yea a big picture observation - the more parcelized (smaller properties) an area is, the higher the hunting pressure on average. You can see that inside just one state, for instance Wisconsin, eastern side of the state has smaller properties and larger pressure while the western side has larger properties and lower pressure on average. Good observation.


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